Cascarino never eligible for Irish

Tony Cascarino, who made a record 88 appearances for the Republic of Ireland, does not hold an Irish passport and has never been eligible to play for the country.

Cascarino makes the confession to Dublin's Sunday Independent, who have serialisation rights to his forthcoming autobiography, Full Time: The Secret Life of Tony Cascarino. A lengthy extract from the book appears in next week's Observer Sport Monthly magazine.

The man who was known as 'Tony Goal' at the height of his up-and-down career - he played for Chelsea, Aston Villa, Celtic, Marseille and Nancy - says: 'I didn't qualify for Ireland. I was a fraud. A fake Irishman.'

The Football Association of Ireland president, Bernard O'Byrne, said his executive would discuss the revelations this week, and while they would consider taking away Cascarino's caps, such a course of action was unlikely. Three of Cascarino's 'Anglo' team-mates, Steve Staunton, Andy Townsend and Niall Quinn, knew about Cascarino's secret for the past four years after the striker quit international football, according to the Dublin report.

Cascarino admits that despite being turned down for an Irish passport in 1985, after he had already made three appearances in the green shirt, he carried on representing Ireland regardless. During a 13-year international career, the Kent-born former hairdresser appeared in World Cups and European Championships. He played against England three times.

Cascarino genuinely believed an Irish maternal grandfather, Michael O'Malley, from Westport, qualified him to play for Ireland when he was first selected. He discovered that O'Malley was not a blood relative only in 1986. His mother discovered only on her father's deathbed that she was not his natural daughter.

Cascarino's confession is the latest in a string of controversies about the eligibility of players in several sports. It will reopen the debate about whether sports governing bodies are sufficiently rigorous in checking players' backgrounds.

In the book, Cascarino relates how he was first called up by Ireland in 1985 when he was at Gillingham. Having always thought his maternal grandfather was Irish, he believed he was eligible under the 'one grandparent' rule.

Cascarino submitted 'evidence' of his Irish antecedents to the Irish embassy in London and began playing international football. He had played against Switzerland, Russia and Denmark before he heard back from the embassy. 'Finally, the envelope arrived and they were all there, all my mother's documents - and a letter saying it had been declined.

'It seemed odd but I didn't follow it up. I didn't need to. I had won three international caps. And for the next 11 years, I continued playing for Ireland with my British passport.'

Throughout Cascarino's international career, his mother knew that his supposed Irish grandfather was not her real father and therefore was not a blood relative, but she said nothing. She revealed the truth to her son only when he retired from international football.